Fuel-briquet and method of making same.



UNITED srn'rns PATENT ornron.

EDWARD H. ELLIS, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, MESNE ASSIGN-MENTS, T0 SAID EDWARD I-I. ELLIS, AND ALFRED D. CHANDLER, OF BROOKLINE,MASSACHUSETTS, TRUSTEES OF ELLIS BRIQUET BINDER.

FUEL-BRIQ'UET AND METHOD OF MAKING- SAME.

No Drawing.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 18, 1911. Serial No. 603,383.

Patented Nov. 28, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD H. ELLIS, of Somerville, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Fuel-Briquets and Methods of Making Same, (CaseB,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a new and useful briquetas an article ofmanufacture, and to the particular application of the process for makingsuch new and useful briquet.

Heretofore the best briquets have been made with binders of coal tarpitch, or of silicates, and of oil, but the smoke and the odor from suchbinders have impaired their usefulness and sale.

This invention provides a fuel briquet free from the aforesaidobjections, and which is cohesive, waterproof odorless, smokeless,retains its form in the fire, has a high calorific efiiciency, and iscomparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

In carrying out my invention, 1 first produce a composition containingsulfuric acid, starch and water, or their reaction products. Thiscomposition is then incorporated with comminuted fuel and thecomposition is then mechanically pressed into the form of briquets; thebriquets are then subjected to calorific action of a certain temperaturethrough the medium of a specially designed and regulated oven.

The composition may be in the proportions of three lbs. of sulfuricacid, preferably of a concentration in excess of ninety per cent., nine(9) lbs. of starch and three (3) gallons of water, this total quan-'tity of composition being then used in the proportions of one hundredand twenty five (125) lbs. of composition to one (1) ton of comminutedfuel. I do not, however, limit myself to these specific proportions; Thestarch, instead of being pure, or the commercial product sold as starch,may be any natural or manufactured product containing sufiicient starchto effect the same result as commercial starch.

When the composition and fuel have been thoroughly incorporated bysuitable machinery, the briquets are made into any desired form,preferably under such a pressure as the graded requirements ofcombustion demand. The briquets are then subjected to a process of finalelimination of moisture, and simultaneously to a process of indurationand waterproofing, through the added binding operation of caloric uponthe chemical ingredients employed in the composition, these effectsbeing produced by a suitably arranged oven kept at a temperature ofabout two hundred (200) C. and through which the passage of the briquetsis regulated for from ten (10) to about fifteen (1.5) minutes, thedegree of the heat and the duration of the transit in the oven beinggoverned by the kind of service for which the briquets are intended.Under these conditions the starch is dehydrated and carbonized by thesulfuric acid, with the result that an insoluble, strong, rigid andhighly efficient binder is formed throughout the mass of the fuel.

I have found in practice that such briquets are not only hard enough tobear transportation and handling, but that they are also waterproof, andare odorless and smokeless during combustion. Also, that they possess ahigh calorific efiiciency and preserve their form in the fire, the outerportion during combustion presenting of course some ash, which, however,is crowded off, but leaving the inner and unconsumed portions still hardenough to sustain the weight of fresh fuel above, and to preserve theirform during slicing of the fire.

One of the chief reasons why my improved briquets are economical tomanufacture is that the chemicals specified so combine as to reduce tothe minimum the time and degree of heat applied to render them hard andwaterproof, the carbonization of the starch by the sulfuric acidoccurring at a comparatively low temperature.

comminuted bituminous or soft coal made into briquets with my improvedcomposition and treatment, is as hard as anthracite coal, and burnswithout the annoying smoke nuisance usually resulting from the use ofsoft coal.

Briquets manufactured under my invention have the equivalent weightvalue of hard coal, but without cinder loss because of the completecombustion of the briquets.

I claim:

1. A waterproof briquet manufactured of 4. The method of makingwaterproof fuel 15 briquets, consisting in mixing with comminuted fuel acomposition containing an insoluble, carbonized reaction product ofsulfuric acid, starch and water, forming the mixture into briquetsiuider pressure, and 20 then subjecting the briquets to the action ofheat to render them hard and waterproof.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

EDWARD H. ELLIS. Witnesses:

A. M. HARRISON, P. N. PEZZETTI.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

